300 Artists In Coconut Grove Fest

With more than 750,000 visitors making the pilgrimage last year, and up to a million expected this year, the 23rd Annual Coconut Grove Arts Festival seems to have no limits.

Beginning Saturday, 300 artists will have their works on display (and for sale) and, in a departure from past tradition, artists from several different disciplines will be demonstrating their work.

The festival is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday in the heart of Coconut Grove in Miami, along South Bayshore Drive from 27th Avenue, and along McFarlane Road and Main Highway.

Besides the art, there is a full slate of entertainment each day at Peacock Park, topped by jazz great Dizzy Gillespie, who performs at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Because of parking problems, Metrorail will provide increased service throughout the three days of the festival. There is free parking at Metrorail stations. Officials of the fair recommend taking the train to the Coconut Grove Station and catching a 25-cent Metrobus shuttle to the fair area.

Also, a tour operation called Positively Posh Tours will provide round-trip, chartered bus packages from the Palm Beach, Broward and Dade county areas.

The bus tours, which include a complimentary breakfast snack on board, range in price from $11.95 to $14.95 a person. A special senior citizen`s dollar discount package is available on Monday, Feb. 17, when the crowd is lightest. For further information, call Bonnie Posh or Julie Landon at 771-6934 or 946-8016.